Few companies got high marks on food marketing to children

As childhood obesity grows, so does concern over food companies’ marketing tactics

March 10, 2010

Mars Inc. did well while McDonald's Corp. got a mediocre mark in a "report card" on food marketing to children released Tuesday by a watchdog group.

But at least neither of those companies got the grade received by most other companies included in the report: F.

The Washington D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest analyzed 128 food and entertainment companies, evaluating the strength of their nutrition standards for food marketed to children and the thoroughness of their policies on marketing to children.

McDonald's, which got a C-, said in a statement that since 2006 it has been a part of the Council of Better Business Bureaus' voluntary initiative to promote healthier advertising to children. The company said it supports that effort's "significant accomplishment" of defining common ad criteria for the food industry.

Concern over food companies' marketing tactics has grown in recent years as the number of obese children continues to rise.

Two-thirds of the companies analyzed in the report card did not have a policy for marketing food to children, earning them an automatic F. Sara Lee Corp. fell into that category.

"Sara Lee is currently updating its policy on marketing to children,'' the company said in a statement.

Mars won its B+ partly because it was one of nine companies analyzed that didn't allow advertising to children under age 12. Also, Mars' marketing policy more thoroughly covered different types of media, the report said.